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2ND NEWSPAPER CONTINUED {PART 2}

INSTRUCTED THAT ROAD BLOCKS BE SET UP. DURING CROSS, HART WAS ASKED BY FISHER IF IT WAS “BLOODY UPSTAIRS,” TO WHICH HE REPLIED, “NO.”

DAVID MERIDETH WITH THE WYTHE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE TOOK THE STAND, TESTIFYING HIS OFFICE HAD LEARNED OF THE CASE AND WAS ASKED TO GO TO THE BUS STATION IN WYTHEVILLE, WHERE HE FOUND HERNANDEZ AND BEGAN TO SPEAK TO HIM. HERNANDEZ PRESENTED HIM WITH A MEXICAN DRIVERS LICENSE IDENTIFYING HIM AS “RICK SOTO.” HERNANDEZ WAS SUBSEQUENTLY TRANSPORTED TO THE WYTHE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE.

FISHER ASKED IF HERNANDEZ HAD WEAPONS OUT, MERIDETH SAID HE DID NOT RECALL, NOR DID MERIDETH RECALL WHETHER OR NOT HERNANDEZ HAD A TICKET ON HIM, OR IF HE HAD KNICKS OR CUTS ON HIS HANDS.

JOE KINZER WITH THE WYTHE COUNTY SHERIFF’S OFFICE STATED HE SAW HERNANDEZ ABOUT 7 P.M. AND THE TWO MADE SMALL TALK AND HERNANDEZ ASKED IF KINZER KNEW ABOUT HIS MATTER.

“ HE OFFERED A SPONTANEOUS STATEMENT, I KILLED MY GIRLFREIND…” KINZER WHO HAD A SMALL NOTEBOOK IN HIS POCKET AT THE TIME WROTE THE INFORMATION DOWN. AFTER THE NOTEBOOK WAS BROUGHT INTO EVIDENCE, SHERRILL QUERIED IF HERNANDEZ HAD ANY INJURIES, TO WHICH KINZER SAID, “NOT THAT I RECALL.”

DURING THE CROSS EXAMINATION, HE REITERATED THE SAME. WHEN ASKED IF HERNANDEZ HAD BEEN “ CIVIL AND COOPERATIVE,” HE STATED HE WAS.

MARIA POPOW, AN OHIO FRIEND OF THE DECEDENT TOLD THE COURT SHE HAD KNOWN AMY SINCE SHE WAS ABOUT 11 OR 12 YEARS OLD.

“ she was a great friend, she was awesome,” popow remembered. She went on to say that she had resided across the street from her, prior to amy being invited to live with popow and her family. She noted amy moved in with the family on june 26, 2006, after Hernandez pulled amy’s hair in a domestic dispute. Prior to that incident, she said that reese said Hernandez was “ awesome.”

OF THE EVENT, POPOW REMARKED THE DAY IT OCCURRED, A RECRUITER WAS AT POPOW’S HOME, AMY RECEIVED A COUPLE OF PHONE CALLS WHICH SHE ANSWERED AND DIDN’T ANSWER A THIRD AND FOURTH CALL.

“ HE STOOD OUTSIDE CALLING HER NAME,” POPOW TESTIFED. SHE SAID AMY WENT OUTSIDE AND “SHE WAS FRUSTRATED AND UPSET WHEN SHE CAME BACK IN. SHE GOT ANOTHER A PHONE CALL AND HE WAS SCREAMING.” AMY WAS ASKED IF SHE WANTED THE RECRUITER TO GO OUTSIDE, AND AMY OPTED TO FO OUT HERSELF.

A SHORT TIME LATER, POPOW STATED, “ AMY CAME RUNNING IN, RAN INTO THE BATHROOM AND SLAMMED THE DOOR CLOSED. SHE SAID SHE WAS SCARED. I’D NEVER KNOWN AMY TO BE SCARED OF ANYTHING OR ANYONE.”

AMY WENT OUTSIDE ONCE MORE AND POPOW STOOD AT HER DOOR WAITING TO SEE IF SHE WAS NEEDED TO ASSIST HER FRIEND. TWENTY TO 30 MINUTES LATER, POPOW THOUGHT SHE HEARD SOMETHING AND PROCEEDED TO GO OUTSIDE. SHE TESTIFIED SHE SAW HERNANDEZ “ SPIN HER AROUND,” AND RAN TO HELP AMY.

IN CONVERSATION FOLLOWING THE INCIDENT, POPOW TESTIFIED, “ I TOLD HER SHE DIDN’T DESERVE IT. SHE COULDN’T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED. I TOLD HER SHE SHOULD STAY WITH US AND I COULD GET HER CLOTHES.” SHE NOTED THAT SHE NEXT SAW HERNANDEZ WITH A GARBAGE BAG THAT CONTAINED AMY’S BELONGINGS.

THE INCIDENT WAS NOT REPORTED TO LOCAL OFFICALS, POPOW SAID.

SHE AND AMY TALKED ABOUT HER UPCOMING TRIP TP ALLGHANY, DURING WHICH AMY EXPRESSED CONCERN ABOUT NOT BEING ABLE TO FIT IN AND POPOW ASURED HER IT WOULD BE FINE. “ SHE WAS SO HAPPY WHEN SHE DECIDED {TO GO},” REMARKED POPOW. POPOW NOTED SHE ASSUMED AMY WAS GOING TO ALLEGHANY BY HERSELF UNTIL THE DAY SHE LEFT, WHEN POPOW LEARNED HERNANDEZ WOULD BE ACCOMPANYING HER. PRIOR TO HER DEPARTURE, POPOW ASKED AMY TO KEEP IN TOUCH OVER THE COURSE OF THE TRIP. E-MAILS SENT BY AMY TO POPOW OVER THE COURSE OF THE VISIT WERE PRESENTED INTO EVIDENCE.

WHEN ASKED ABOUT THE E-MAILS, POPOW SAID AT FIRST, AMY’S E-MAILS INDICATED THAT HERNANDEZ HAD AJUSTED WELL” AND THAT HER MOTHER WAS NICE.” THE LAST E-MAIL POPOW RECEIVED FROM AMY WAS SENT JULY 15, 2006 AND SHE LEARNED OF HER FRIEND’S PASSING LATER THAT DAY.

DURING CROSS, POPOW DESCRIBED AMY’S AND HERNANDEZ’ RELATIONSHIP AS “UP AND DOWN” AND THAT THE TWO GOT BACK TOGETHER BEFORE AMY LEFT FOR ALLEGHANY.

RECOUNTING THE VISIT BY THE RECRUITER AND HERNANDEZ’ BEHAVIOR, POPOW STATED “ HE WAS UPSET BECAUSE HE DIDN’T BELIEVE WOMEN SHOULD BE IN THE MILITARY. SHE DIDN’T WANT HIM HOLDING HER BACK.”

LLOYD TERRY WITH THE SBI WAS THE NEXT WITNESS FOR THE STATE. WHILE HERNANDEZ WAS IN LOCAL CUSTODY, TERRY ASKED IF HE COULD TALK TO HIM, AND HERNANDEZ AGRRED.

“HE SAID THE LAST TIME HE SAW HER {REESE} SHE WAS ASLEEP.” OF THE COUPLE’S RELATIONSHIP, HERNANDEZ TOLD TERRY “ AMY WAS DISRESPECTING” HIM. HE SAID THAT SEVERAL TIMES, ACCORDING TO TERRY. HE SAID HE “DID NOT THREATEN AMY… THAT HE WAS ACTUALLY NICE TO HER.” HERNANDEZ ALSO TOLD TERRY ON ONE OCCASION, THAT REESE “HAD PLANS” AND HE DESCRIBED HER AS LOOKING “ LIKE SHE WAS POSSESSED.”

WHEN TERRY NOTICED WHAT APPEARED TO BE DRIED BLOOD ON HERNANDEZ’S WATCH, HE MENTIONED IT TO HIM. HERNANDEZ QUIPPED THERE WOULD BE NO BLOOD ON HIS PERSONAL BELOGINGS.

TERRY TESTIFIED THAT CAPT. CARLTON EDWARDS WITH THE ALLEGHANY SHERIFF’S DEPARTMENT RELAYED TO HIM WHAT HERNANDEZ TOLD HIM DURING A SMOKE BREAK.

AT THAT PIONT DURING THE TESTIMONY, HERNANDEZ WAS SEEN PUTTING HIS HEAD IN HIS HANDS AND STARTING TO CRY.

TERRY SAID HE LEARNED THAT UPON HERNANDEZ’ RETURN FROM ATRIP WHEN HE ACCOMPANIED AMY’S STEPFATHER, HERNANDEZ FOUND AMY IN BED AND THAT SHE HAD A HUNTING KNIFE UNDER THE COVERS WITH HER. HE SAID SHE THREATENED TO STAB HIM AND A STRUGGLE ENSUED AND HERNANDEZ ‘SNAPPED.’

TERRY SAID, “ HE SAID HE LOVED AMY AND DIDN’T MEAN TO KILL HER.”TERRY WENT ON TO SAY HERNANDEZ CHANGED CLOTHES AND TOOK THE KNIFE WITH HIM. HE NOTED THAT THE KNIFE AND BLOODY SHOES WERE DISCARDED AS HERNANDEZ HITCHHICKED TO THE WYTHEVILLE BUS STATION.

DURING CROSS, IT WAS LET INTO EVIDENCE THAT THREE DIFFERENT PEOPLE TRANSPORTED HERNANDEZ AND THAT EACH WERE TREATED IN A “CORDIAL” MANNER, AS TERRY STATED HE WAS. OF THE APPEARANCE OF DRIED BLOOD ON THE WATCH, TERRY TOLD FISHER THE WATCH WAS NOT ANALYZED.

IN RE-CROSS, SHERRILL ASKED TERRY HOW MANY TIMES HERNANDEZ SAID HE STABBED REESE. “ HE DIDN’T REMEMBER HOW MANY TIMES…HE PUNCTURED HER MORE THAN ONCE.”

IN A SECOND STATEMENT MADE BY HERNANDEZ, TERRY STATED HE “LOVED AMY AND THAT HE TOLD HER THAT EVERYDAY.”

CONCETTA SIMMONS WITH THE SBI SERVED AS THE STATES NINTH WITNESS. SHE EXPLAINED SHE CREATED THE DIAGRAMS OF THE SCENE, LOCATED EVIDENCE AND THE LIKE, INFORMATION THAT WAS SUBSEQUENTLY TURNED OVER TO THE ALLEGHANY SHERIFF’S OFFICE. HER TESTIMONY WAS CONTINUED INTO WEDNESDAY.

AFTER THE JURY HAD BEEN EXCUSED FOR THE DAY, TERRY WAS RECALLED AND REITERATED HERNANDEZ TOLD INVESTIGATORS THAT HE “STRUGGLED WITH AMY, THAT AMY WAS CALLING HIM NAMES…THAT HE DID NOT MEAN TO KILL HER.”

ON WEDNESDAY, SIMMONS WAS ASKED TO TALK ABOUT PIECES OF STATE AND SBI EVIDENCE, INCLUDING A BLACK SHIRT, A PAIR OF SOCKS AND A BRA, ALL WITH RED STAINS, THAT WERE TAKEN OFF THE DECEDEN BY DR. RAY AT AMH.

ANOTHER PIECE OF EVIDENCE THAT WAS BROUGHT TO THE COURT’S ATTENTION DURING SIMMONS’ TESTIMONY WAS A PAIR OF JEANS ALLEGEDLY WORN BY THE DEFENDANT AND SHE WAS ASKED TO SHOW THE JURORS WHERE BLOOD WAS LOCATED ON THE JEANS. OTHER ITEMS BROUGHT INTO EVIDENCE INCLUDE A BLACK UNDER SHIRT, A FITTED SHEET FROM A FULL SIZED BED AND A PLAID COMFORTER. WITH NO QUESTIONS FROM THE DEFENSE, SIMMONS WAS DISMISSED.

DR. DONALD JASON, WHO IDENTIFIED HIMSELF AS THE DESIGNATED FORENSIC PATHOLOGIST FOR THE STATE, TESTIFIED HE DID EXAMINATIONS ON THE BODY OF THE DECEDENT, AND SPOKE OF THE SIX PUNCTURE WOUNDS AND SINGLE SUPERFICIAL WOUND FOUND ON REESE’S BODY.

DURING THE TESTIMONY, THE JURY WAS PRESENTED DIFFERENT PHOTOS OF THE WOUNDS AND PIONTED OUT THE NUMBERS HE PLACED ON THE WOUNDS IN NO WAY WERE MEANS TO IDENTIFY THE ORDER OF THE WOUNDS WERE SUSTAINED. HOWEVER, HE DID NOTE THAT FIVE OF THE SIX WOUNDS WERE INFLICTED BACK TO FRONT; THE SOLE EXCEPTION BEING THE WOUND IN THE VICINITY OF REESE’S BELLY BUTTON.

WHEN ASKED ABOUT PAIN ASSOCIATED WITH THE DIFFERENT STAB WOUNDS, JASON SAID IN THE CASE OF A WOUND IN THE CENTER OF HER BACK, AS BLOOD FLOWED IT “ WOULD MAKE IT DIFFICULT TO BREATHE.” MEANWHILE, THE INFLICTION OF ANOTHER WOUND WOULD “CAUSE INTERNAL BLEEDING AND SHORTNESS OF BREATHE.”

THE LOWERMOST WOUND TO REESE’S BODY IDENTIFIED AS “NUMBER SIX” WAS A PUNTURE TO HER LEFT BUTTOCK, ABOUT THREE-AND-HALF INCHES DEEP. WHEN SHERRILL ASKED ABOUT THE SEVERITY OF THE WOUNDS, JASON TESTIFIED THAT WHILE TWO HAD THE “LIKELIHOOD OF BEING FATAL,” TWO OTHERS WOULD HAVE BEEN LIFE-THREATNING ”eventually.”

When asked about reese’s cause of death, Jason said the death was caused by “blood loss {and} compression of the lungs based on bleeding internally.”

Referencing the effect of the two wounds to the back, Jason told Sherrill her potential range of life following the wounds could have been as little as 10 minutes and as long as 30 minutes. “blood would have compressed her lungs,” stated Jason. “ I don’t know what postion the body was in…it had to be face up at one point. { a total of} 615 milliliters would only be a portion of what she bled.”

DURING CROSS, FISHER ASKED IF AN ORDER OF THE WOUNDS COULD BE DETERMINED TO WHICH JASON REPLIED, “NOT BY THE AUTOPSY DONE.” FISHER CLAIFIED THAT THE WOUND TO THE FRONT OF MS. REESE’S BODY WAS “SUPERFICIAL” AND THAT IT WENT TO HER ABDOMINAL WALL AND THE FURTHER PATH COULD NOT BE FOLLOWED.

PAULA CARSON, AN EMPLOYEE WITH THE SBI SLASO TESTIFIED SIMILAR TO SIMMONS’ TESTIMONY,SHE TOO USED DIAGRAMS AND OTHER MATERIALS TO ILLUSTRATE HER TESTIMONY. SHE TESTIFIED AS TO THE ITEMS FOUND IN THE BASEMENT AND ISSUES SURROUNDING BLOOD FOUND AT THE SCENE.